Category: reviews

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: The Moose Paradox – Antti Tuomainen, translated by David Hackston

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Insurance mathematician Henri Koskinen has finally restored order both to his life and to YouMeFun, the adventure park he now owns, when a man from the past appears – and turns everything upside down again. More problems arise when the park’s equipment supplier is taken over by a shady trio, with confusing demands. Why won’t Toy of Finland Ltd sell the new Moose Chute to Henri when he needs it as the park’s main attraction? Meanwhile, Henri’s relationship with artist Laura has reached breaking point, and, in order to survive this new chaotic world, he must push every calculation to its limits, before it’s too late.

Finnish Antti Tuomainen was an award-winning copywriter when he made his literary debut in 2007 as a suspense author Iin 2013, the Finnish press crowned Tuomainen the ‘King of Helsinki Noir’ when Dark as My Heart was published. With a piercing and evocative style, Tuomainen was one of the first to challenge the Scandinavian crime genre formula, and his poignant, dark and hilarious The Man Who Died became an international bestseller, shortlisting for the Petrona and Last Laugh Awards. Palm Beach Finland was an immense success, with Marcel Berlins (The Times) calling Tuomainen ‘the funniest writer in Europe’. Little Siberia (2020), was shortlisted for the CWA International Dagger, the Amazon Publishing/Capital Crime Awards and the CrimeFest Last Laugh Award, and won the Petrona Award for Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year. The Rabbit Factor (2021), the first book in Antti’s first ever series, is in production by Amazon Studios with Steve Carell starring. The Moose Paradox, book two in the series is out in 2022.

My thoughts: back to Finland’s maddest adventure park we go. Just as Henri thinks he’s solved all his problems, more appear. There’s shady businessmen/gangsters who seem to be determined to ruin the park, with inferior equipment and a hostile takeover, the staff are in revolt, and he’s not sure about whether to take the next step with the lovely Laura. Just another day’s work at YouMeFun then.

Although we never find out exactly what the Moose Shute does (and some of the other creations of Toy Finland sound downright nuts and beyond dangerous), the lengths Henri goes to to secure it are hilarious. For someone who spends their time calculating risk, he’s prepared to go to extremes for the park.

This book might actually be even more fun and ridiculous than The Rabbit Factor, as chaos lurks around every corner, not to mention the police, furious criminals, the park’s own staff (no one else would hire them) and a blast from the past that could destroy everything Henri has worked so hard for.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own

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Blog Tour: Inhuman Acts – Brooke French

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We’re celebrating the release of page-turning thriller, Inhuman Acts by Brooke French! Read on for more details and don’t forget to try your luck at winning a $25 Amazon gift card!

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Inhuman Acts

Publication Date: September 29th, 2022

Genre: Thriller

Publisher: Black Rose Writing

A deadly, incurable disease creeps silent through Chattanooga. And its victims aren’t random.

When inexplicable human rabies cases appear in Tennessee, disease ecologist Letty Duquesne jumps at the chance to trace the virus back to its source. But the closer Letty gets to finding the outbreak’s origin, the further someone will go to stop her.

With an unwanted promotion threatening to take Letty far from the fieldwork she loves, this outbreak feels like her last chance to make a difference. It’s not something she can ignore, especially now. The spillover of zoonotic diseases to the human population is on the rise and violent animal attacks-like the one that killed her sister-are becoming all too common.

Something in nature has gone very wrong.

Local authorities would rather she go home, but Letty can track a source animal like no one else. With the help of disgraced detective Andrew Marsh, Letty follows the virus’s epidemiological trail. But her every move is watched. And the source animal is closer than she thinks.

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About the Author

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Brooke French is a recovering lawyer turned writer who lives with her husband and sons between Atlanta and Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. She spends most of her days gleefully researching and writing about fatal viruses, terrorism, and murder.

Brooke is likely on numerous watch lists

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My thoughts: this was a clever, slightly grim, crime thriller. A strange rabies outbreak brings University of Georgia scientist Letty to town, wanting to offer her expertise to the doctors who treated the unfortunate victims (there is no cure for rabies, only a preventative vaccine for humans and animals). But no one wants to know.

Police detective Andrew was the unlucky soul who shot one of the rabies victims. He’s on admin leave while the incident is investigated. A chance meeting with Letty draws him into a somewhat clandestine investigation into the outbreak.

Letty’s digging also brings her into contact with local vet Pete, going through a tough divorce, Letty and he connect and he offers his help with her investigation too. Can Letty trust these friendly men? Is her pal Priya, struck down by a rogue strain of malaria in Cambodia, going to be ok? Will Letty be able to finally grieve her sister’s terrible death?

With zoonotic diseases (like Covid-19) on the rise, this is a timely book in some ways. Letty and her colleagues study the intersection of animal viruses and humans, as we encroach further on the natural world, we risk increasing exposure to things like malaria, zika and rabies. Often without any way to treat and cure these diseases. Letty and scientists like her are at the front line of research into ways to prevent awful viruses reaching humans and while the rabies outbreak turns out to have a very human cause, it could so easily be a case of interspecies contact gone wrong.

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Blog Tour: The Song and the Sword – Isabelle Chevallot

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In twelfth-century England, King Richard the Lionheart has just ascended the throne, and preparations are underway for the Third Crusade to wrest the Holy Land from Saladin’s clutches.

Young lovers Eleanor and Hugh are thwarted by their fathers. While Eleanor is married off to Baron Rolf, a man who simmers with menace and will stop at nothing in his bid for power, Hugh trains to become a knight and embarks on Crusade to escape an arranged marriage to a woman he despises.

From the stark walls of Dover Castle, to the sanctuary of an austere priory and across tempest-swept seas to Normandy and the prosperous city of Messina, Sicily, Eleanor and Hugh must each brave a lonely and perilous journey of love and loss, grief and endurance with only their own wits to rely on. 

For the past twelve years I have worked as a librarian at Guildhall Library specialising in the history of London, where I present talks, run workshops, lead discussion groups and I have even organised four Regency Balls to engage people in history. An aficionado of historical fiction, in one of my recent talks From Historical Fiction to History I explored the relationship between historical fiction and history with a focus on some of my favourite novels. Before Guildhall Library, I worked for nine years as a librarian/researcher at the Guardian and Observer newspapers.  website 

My thoughts: lots of research has clearly gone into this book to bring the sense of the 12th Century vividly to life – especially the smells! Eleanor often comments on the stench in her chapters, possibly because of her sensitivity to them. Both she and Hugh find themselves in what seems like impossible situations.

Eleanor’s father marries her off to a horrible, cruel monster of a man – all for money. Hugh’s father tries to do the same. Terrible fathers both, not remotely thinking about their children at all. But both Hugh and Eleanor are strong and manage to rescue themselves from their misfortunes, Hugh goes off to fight in the Crusades with his uncle and cousin. Eleanor has to survive harsh trials too – alone and with only her wits, and her singing voice, to sustain her. No man comes to her aid so she saves herself and finds a different life.

I liked Eleanor – much like the Queen she was named for (Eleanor of Acquitaine, Queen of France, England and mother of among others, Richard the Lionheart and Bad King John) she is resilient, intelligent and proves much more capable than many women of her class would be expected to be. She doesn’t need a man to look after her, she can take care of herself.

Life in medieval England was pretty grim, especially for women, but this book shows a few surviving, and thriving, against a backdrop of war, poverty and misery. Eleanor is the hero of this book and deserves her happy ending.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.

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Blog Tour: Mr Magenta – Christopher Bowden

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Stephen Marling thought he knew his aunt Flora. But when he inherits her house in a quiet south London square a series of discoveries among her papers brings to light another person entirely. 

Who, for example, is ‘Mr Magenta’ and what part did he play in her life?

In the process of uncovering the secrets of one life, Stephen is forced to re-evaluate his own and decide what he really wants. 

Was he right to turn his back on Nancy Steiner, the young actress he met in New York, when he came home to take up his inheritance?

Interweaving past and present, the story takes him from a Brooklyn bookshop to a theatre in Marseille to a cottage on the east coast of England where the truth about Mr Magenta is finally revealed. Buy Links

Christopher Bowden lives in south London.  He is the author of six novels, each with a colour theme.  His books have been praised variously by Andrew Marr, Julian Fellowes, Sir Derek Jacobi, and Shena Mackay. Of his third novel, The Red House, Sir Derek said, “Very entertaining, cleverly constructed and expertly paced.  I thoroughly enjoyed it.”

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My thoughts: this is a rather gentle and sweet mystery – having inherited his aunt Flora’s house on her death, returning from his New York life, Stephen wishes he’d known more about his book loving aunt. Through her belongings, he builds up an image of who she was and decides to look deeper into her mysterious Mr Magenta. Clearly a pseudonym but for whom and why?

Following the clues of old photos, letters and playscripts, Stephen travels to France and the Suffolk coast. But his own more recent past lingers – should he have quit his job and left the lovely Nancy behind? Or should he take a risk and follow his heart?

This was rather lovely, a mystery with no grisly murders, a search for understanding and a friend who might be able to answer some of his questions.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.

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Book Review: A Dowry of Blood – S.T. Gibson

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S.T. Gibson’s sensational novel is the darkly seductive tale of Dracula’s first bride, Constanta. 

This is my last love letter to you, though some would call it a confession. . .

Saved from the brink of death by a mysterious stranger, Constanta is transformed from a medieval peasant into a bride fit for an undying king. But when Dracula draws a cunning aristocrat and a starving artist into his web of passion and deceit, Constanta realizes that her beloved is capable of terrible things.

Finding comfort in the arms of her rival consorts, she begins to unravel their husband’s dark secrets. With the lives of everyone she loves on the line, Constanta will have to choose between her own freedom and her love for her husband. But bonds forged by blood can only be broken by death.

“Love is violence, my darling; it is a thunderstorm that tears apart your world. More often than not, love ends in tragedy, but we go on loving in the hope that this time it will be different.”

My thoughts: narrated by the first of Dracula’s infamous brides, Constanta, this is a tale of blood, love, obsession and hate.

Living centuries, familiarity of course, famously, breeds contempt. And being one of the only creatures of their kind, living in darkness, in fear, with no friends or companions except one another, breeds a seething and powerful mix of strong, conflicting emotions.

With her fellow bride Magdalena, and Alexi, the male member of their triad, they plot their master’s downfall and their escape.

Written as a letter, a mea culpa, to Dracula, this is a clever, disturbing and sex drenched novel, little references to the famous novel, a mention of the Harkers, slip into the text as the macabre family criss cross Europe, always one step ahead of the mob, with their torches and pitchforks. Can these children of darkness survive into a new century without their sire and lover? Perfect for fans of Bram Stoker’s original novel and the many, many retellings, spin offs etc.

Thank you to Orbit and Nazia for my ARC. A Dowry of Blood is available to buy now.

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Book Review: Ithaca – Claire North

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This is the story of Penelope of Ithaca, famed wife of Odysseus, as it has never been told before. Beyond Ithaca’s shores, the whims of gods dictate the wars of men. But on the isle, it is the choices of the abandoned women—and their goddesses—that will change the course of the world.

“North brings a powerful, fresh, and unflinching voice to ancient myth. Breathtaking.” —Jennifer Saint, author of AriadneSeventeen years ago, King Odysseus sailed to war with Troy, taking with him every man of fighting age from the island of Ithaca. None of them has returned, and the women of Ithaca have been left behind to run the kingdom.

Penelope was barely into womanhood when she wed Odysseus. While he lived, her position was secure. But now, years on, speculation is mounting that her husband is dead, and suitors are beginning to knock at her door. 

No one man is strong enough to claim Odysseus’ empty throne—not yet. But everyone waits for the balance of power to tip, and Penelope knows that any choice she makes could plunge Ithaca into bloody civil war. Only through cunning, wit, and her trusted circle of maids, can she maintain the tenuous peace needed for the kingdom to survive.

From the multi-award-winning author Claire North comes a daring reimagining that breathes life into ancient myth and gives voice to the women who stand defiant in a world ruled by ruthless men. It’s time for the women of Ithaca to tell their tale . . .

My thoughts: having spent large chunks of my life reading and studying The Iliad and The Odyssey (sometimes in the original Greek, headache inducing as that was) I feel very familiar with the characters. I’ve read Margaret Atwood’s The Penelopiad, which also tells some of Penelope’s story, but in a different way to this book.

Penelope has long been seen as the ultimate faithful wife, staving off an army of suitors, carefully unraveling her weaving by night to prolong her ability to avoid remarriage – convinced that nothing will stop clever Odysseus from coming home.

This book gives her new agency, gives her back her intelligence and character, fills her out so she’s no longer simply “the good wife” of myth. She’s a queen, a daughter of Sparta, her mother was a naiad (a water sprite) and she is smart and cunning. She keeps her kingdom afloat, trades wisely and employs her own spy mistress and retinue of loyal and trusted women around her. Men expect to be mute, as she is in The Odyssey, but here, with her women, she speaks.

She tries to aid her cousin Clytemnestra (sister of Helen, married to Agamemnon’s brother Menelaus, the reason for the whole Trojan war), scorned and furious wife of Agamemnon, hunted by her own children Elektra and Orestes (for their fates, try the Greek plays the Orestaia and Elektra – it doesn’t end well) for murdering their father in revenge over the death of their daughter Iphigenia (sacrificed at the beginning of The Iliad). Much of Greek myth is tragedy and very messy, the whole of Agamemnon’s family illustrates that very clearly.

She must also defend against raiders, dressed as Illyrians (I think from what is now Italy, if I remember my ancient geography correctly), but behaving more like Greeks. Secretly she gathers a fighting force of women, taught by a Scythian female warrior.

Narrated by Hera, Queen of the gods, goddess of women and childbirth, constantly at odds with her sprawling and complicated family, fascinated by Penelope, determined to whisper in a few ears and aid this human woman, wife to Athena’s favoured hero, to give her wisdom and support as she steers her court through the long years of Odysseus’ absence and the constant, irritating presence of the infamous suitors, who by Greek rules of hospitality must be catered for every day and night.

A clever, beguiling and intelligent retelling of one of the oldest pieces of Western literature, breathing new life into a far more complex woman than that old myth would have you believe.

Thank you to Orbit and Nazia for my finished copy of this beautiful book.

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Blog Tour: The Family Home – Miranda Smith

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There’s a dead man in my apartment. Only me and my ex have a key. But neither of us would have done this. We have too much to lose…

I wake on the sofa, my head throbbing. How did I get here? In the darkness, I make my way to my bedroom. I turn on the lights. And then I scream.

There’s a body in my bed. And I know this man: we went on two dates together. Who could have killed him? And how did he get in? Only two people have a key to the house: me and my ex-husband Matthew.

I trust Matthew. With what we’re hiding, I have to. And I can’t risk the police digging into our past, or learning about the night when we drank champagne on the cliff and ruined everything.

Someone knows our secret. We have to find out what they want. But am I wrong to believe Matthew, when I know how well he can lie? And how can I save myself, when the truth might destroy me?

An absolutely gripping thriller that will keep you reading late into the night, unable to put the book down for a second. Perfect for fans of Gillian Flynn, Ruth Ware and Lisa Jewell. Amazon

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Miranda Smith writes psychological and domestic suspense. She is drawn to stories about ordinary people in extraordinary situations. Before completing her first novel, she worked as a newspaper staff writer and a secondary English teacher. She lives in East Tennessee with her husband and three young children.

https://mirandasmithwriter.com/

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My thoughts: the arrangement Lillian and ex-husband have would drive me nuts. I know they’ve done it to try to give their daughter a simple, straightforward life but I would go crazy having to see my ex all the time and negotiate my living space arrangements.

Of course it all goes horribly wrong when a dead body shows up at their bachelor/ette pad and Lillian becomes suspect number one, especially when she realises she’s met the dead guy. And when she discovers who he really is. It’s all down hill from there. Her supposedly excellent relationship with Matthew starts to crack under pressure and other friendships splinter. The shocking twist of who’s behind it all made me yell, I didn’t see that in a million years – I thought it was mother-in-law Jane or Matthew’s horrible business partner. Very clever.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.

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Blog Tour: The Hike – Susi Holliday

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Four hikers enter the mountains. Only two return. But is it tragedy? Or treachery?

When sisters Cat and Ginny travel with their husbands to the idyllic Swiss Alps for a hiking holiday, it’s not just a chance to take in the stunning scenery. It’s an opportunity to reconnect with each other after years of drifting apart–and patch up marriages that are straining at the seams.

As they head into the mountains, morale is high, but as the terrain turns treacherous, cracks in the relationships start to show. With worrying signs that someone might be following them, the sun begins to set and exhaustion kicks in. Suddenly, lost high on a terrifying ridge, tensions spill over–with disastrous consequences.

When only two of the four hikers make it down from the mountain, the police press them for their story–but soon become suspicious when their accounts just don’t add up.

What really happened up on that ridge? Who are the survivors? And what secrets are they trying to hide?

Susi Holliday grew up near Edinburgh and worked in the pharmaceutical industry for many years before she started writing. A lifelong fan of crime and horror, her short stories have been published in various places, and she was shortlisted for the inaugural CWA Margery Allingham Prize. She is the acclaimed author of nine novels and a novella. The film adaptation of her Trans-Siberian-set psychological thriller Violet is currently in development.As well as working, reading, writing, walking and drinking tea, Susi provides mentoring for new crime writers via http://www.crimefictioncoach.com.You can find out more at her website, http://www.susiholliday.com, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/SJIHolliday, on Twitter @SJIHolliday, and on Instagram @susijholliday

My thoughts: families are very complicated – and Cat and Ginny are very complicated. On a hiking trip with their husbands, secrets forcing wedges between both sets of spouses and the sisters. These secrets are boiling up and over as the four get lost hiking in the Swiss Alps.

Cat has a plan, but it goes sideways on the mountainside and now she has to convince the police that she’s the only one telling the truth, not the man she stumbled off the mountain with.

I love Susi’s books, they’re always smart and compelling reads, and this is no different. Cat is a mess and her plan isn’t very smart – there are better ways to deal with your sister (mine is still alive, promise).

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.

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Blog Tour: Silverweed Road – Simon Crook

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Welcome to Silverweed Road – a once quiet suburban street where nothing is quite as it seems. In this macabre collection of twisted tales, were-foxes prowl, a swimming pool turns predatory, a haunted urn plots revenge and a darts player makes a deal with the devil himself.

As the residents vanish one by one, a sinister mystery slowly unpeels, lurking in the Woods at the road’s dead-end.

Creepy, chilling, and witty by turn, Silverweed Road deals in love, loss, isolation, loneliness, obsession, greed,and revenge.

Come take a walk through suburban hell. The neighbours will be dying to meet you …

Simon Crook has been a film journalist for over 20 years, travelling the world visiting film sets and interviewing talent for Empire Magazine.

A new and exciting voice in domestic horror, he is perfectly placed to translate the recent successes of the genre from the silver screen to the written word – while adding something new and wholly his own.

My thoughts: this was super creepy, every house on Silverweed Road has a story and all of them end in death and disappearance. Interwoven with a retired detective’s personal notes on the mysteries of the road, this is a chilling, sinister book with a horrible truth at its heart.

Each chapter is a story within a story as the body count grows – why would anyone every want to live on Silverweed Road, I certainly wouldn’t. Don’t read this late at night and then look out the window – makes your own road look a bit more creepy.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.

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Blog Tour: Death at the Lychgate – T.A. Belshaw

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AMY ROWLINGS RETURNS!

Sunday morning, and the body of Reverend Villiers has been found propped up on the vigil seat in the church’s lychgate. It appears that he has been poisoned.

When amateur sleuth and regular churchgoer, Amy Rowlings arrives she finds DI Bodkin already at the scene. Bodkin tells her about a cryptic scripture reference that has been scrawled in chalk on the stone slabs beneath the body. What the citation hints at, shocks everyone.

Amy, a huge Agatha Christie fan is determined to get involved in the investigation and despite a stern warning from the detective’s boss, Amy and Bodkin team up again to try to solve the most complex murder case he has ever been involved in. When the toxicology report comes back from the lab, the results only add to the mystery.

Meanwhile, Amy looks to her favourite Agatha Christie character, Hercule Poirot for help, and using his techniques, she narrows down the list of possible murderers to just nine suspects.

Can Amy fit together the jigsaw of clues to solve this, the most complex of cases?

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T A Belshaw is from Derbyshire in the United Kingdom where he shares a house with his chatty rescue cat, Mia. He writes for both children and adults. A former miner and computer technician, Trevor studied Advanced Creative Writing at the Open University. He is the author of Tracy’s Hot Mail, Tracy’s Celebrity Hot Mail and the noir, suspense novella, Out of Control. Following the sudden death of his wife in 2015 Trevor took a five-year break from writing, returning during lockdown in 2020, when an injury forced him to take time off work. The result of this new creative burst was the Dual Timeline, Family Saga, Unspoken and the Historical Cosy Crime Whodunnit, Murder at the Mill.

Trevor signed his first contract with Spellbound Books Ltd in April 2021. He signed a further mullti-book contract with them in the spring of 2022.

His short stories have been published in various anthologies including 100 Stories for Haiti, 50 Stories for Pakistan, Another Haircut, Shambelurkling and Other Stories, Deck the Halls, 100 Stories for Queensland and The Cafe Lit anthology 2011, 2012 and 2013. He also has two pieces in Shambelurklers Return.

Trevor is also the author of 15 children’s adventure books written under the name of Trevor Forest. 

His children’s poem, Clicking Gran, was long listed for the Plough prize (children’s section) in 2009 and his short poem, My Mistake, was rated Highly Commended and published in an anthology of the best entries in the Farringdon Poetry Competition.

Trevor’s articles have been published in magazines as diverse as Ireland’s Own, The Best of British and First Edition. 

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My thoughts: this was a really enjoyable crime story about a vicar, who nobody seems to really know, left poisoned and a suspicious Bible verse chalked onto the wall behind him in the lychgate of his church on a Sunday morning.

Local detective Bodkin and newly minted PI Amy Rowlings set out to find the truth about the Rev Villiers and who could possibly have wanted to kill him.

Amy is a clever, determined sleuth, she’s the one that cracks the case, even though Bodkin gets the credit with the police. They work well together and always find time to hit the cinema or the pub with friends. In fact that’s where they pick up a few clues.

Set in a time when women had far fewer options than we do now, Amy isn’t keen on being a housewife and giving in to society’s expectations, instead she’s forging her own path and putting things to right at the same time.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.